Spring unit for furniture backs



June 19, 1962 G. SIMON 3,039,762

SPRING UNIT FOR FURNITURE BACKS Filed Nov. 4, 1960 7 3 ,/4 g- 1 r- 9 f: I 1, f J I d I I! 19 r I 20 A a if I 1 v .1 1, I 1, l .q. I 2?;

IN VENTOR. George $1mon jaw Z TTORNEY United States Patent O 3,039,762 SPRING UNIT FOR FURNITURE BACKS George Simon, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor to Kay Manufacturing Corp., Brooklyn, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Nov. 4, 1960, Ser. No. 67,410 3 Claims. (Cl. 267-101) This invention relates to spring units for furniture and particularly to pre-assembled back units for upholstered chairs, sofas and the like articles of furniture.

In my prior Patent No. 2,936,027, there is disclosed a spring-row unit whereby a single row of two or more springs may be readily installed at one time in a back and as readily assembled in any desired transverse spaced relation to similar units to complete the spring structure for the back.

While such row unit has proven to be eflicient and commercially in demand, there also exists a demand for a unit which is even more quickly installed at an even greater saving in time and labor and which provides a denser spring pattern.

The present invention therefore contemplates the provision of a complete back spring unit which can be installed with great ease and rapidity by merely stapling it to the furniture frame, thereby avoiding the relatively slow and expensive handling of individual springs or of individual rows of springs.

The invention further contemplates the provision of a complete unit employing relatively light wire and light closely spaced springs to the best advantage and being therefore economical not only in initial cost but in the cost of installation and other handling.

The various objects of the invention will be clear from the description which follows and from the drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a foreshortened elevational view of a back spring unit to which the invention has been applied, showing the unit installed in a back frame.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the same taken on the line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary isometric view of the front portion of one end part of the unit showing the arrangement of the border wires and of the front tie wires.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the coil springs as and 11 in each row, are of the usual type, each having :a front end coil and a rear end coil. The springs in each substantially upright row are in substantial vertical spaced relation, the spacing depending on the spring density desired and the height of the back. The upright rows themselves are in closely adjoining relation resulting in a relatively dense spring structure adapted for the use of light wire without sacrifice of supporting properties. All of the springs 10 and 11 in any two adjacent rows are tied together by suitable front and rear tire Wires for the end coils, each wire being substantially tangent to the coils which it connects.

As shown the front tie wire 12 is L-shaped, having a substantially upright leg 13 beginning at a point 14 above the center of the upper spring 10 and below the top of the unit. The long leg 13 extends downwardly to and ends at the bot-tom of the unit, being connected by the bend 15 to the short leg 17 which is designed to rest on the rail 16 of the frame. In the form shown, the short leg is of slightly less length than the diameter of the front coils 18 of the springs 10, which determines the width of the row, so that the short leg does not interfere with the long leg of the front tie wire of the next row.

A clip as 19 connects the front coils 18 of two corresponding springs 10 in any two adjacent rows to each other as well as to the long leg of hte front tie wire 12. A similar clip 20 similarly connects the front coils 21 of the springs 11 in a pair of adjoining rows to each other and to the long leg of the tie wire. Such tie wires, clips and spring being substantially identical throughout the unit, the above description thereof will apply to all.

To stabilize the unit so that it may be controlled easily during handling and installation and to aid connecting the springs in each of the marginal rows at the left and right hand sides of the unit, a U-shaped marginal or border wire 22 is employed. The substantially upright sides 23, 24 of such border wire are connected by clips as 25, 26, similar to the clips 19 and 20, to the front coils 18 and 21 respectively of the springs in side or marginal rows, while the horizontal connecting part 27 of the border wire, connecting the sides 23, 24 extends throughout the rows and throughout the length of the unit in position for connection to the short legs 17 of the front tie wires. Each of said short legs is secured to the connecting part 27 by a clip as 28.

At the top of the unit, the top border wire 29 is secured to the tops of the front coils 18 of the springs in all of the rows by a clip as 30 at each of the coils. The border Wire 29 has a suitable eye 31 at each end thereof for the reception of the end hook of a connecting spring 32, the other end of which spring is secured to the eye or staple 33 in the side rail 34 of the frame. Since the front tie wires begin below the top border wire, said wire 29 is independent of the tie wires and similarly independent of the marginal border wire 22.

Relatively short straight rear tie wires 35 similar in configuration to the rear tie wires of said Patent No. 2,936,027, are indicated in FIG. 2, each serving to secure together the rear coils of all the springs in any two adjoining rows. For securing together the rear coils of corresponding lower springs 11, a clip 20' similar to the clip 20 is employed, said clip 20 also securing the short tie wire 35 in tangent position to the two rear coils held thereby. A clip 19' similar to the clip 19 serves similarly to the clip 20' to secure together the upper part of the tie wire 35 and the rear coils of the upper springs 10 in two adjoining rows. At its upper end, the rear tie wire extends past the clip 19' but does not reach the top border wire 29 which is consequently independent of the rear tie wires as well as of the front tie wires and the other border wire. At its lower end, the rear tie wire terminates above the part 27 but extends past the clip 20'.

To install the unit, it need merely be placed with the part 27 of the marginal border wire on the lower rail 16 and with the rear coils of the upper springs 10 on the top rail 36. The ends of the springs 32 may then or later be inserted into the eyes 31 of the top border wire and staples 37 driven around the leg 17 and part 27 at the bottom of the unit into the lowerrail, other staples 38 (FIG. 2) being driven around the rear coil of the top spring 11 into the rail 36 to complete the installation. It will now be seen that :a complete preassembled dense spring unit capable of manufacture and installation economically has been provided thereby, but that various changes may be made in the illustrated disclosure hereof without departing from the spirit of the invention defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A preaassernbled spring structure adapted to be installed as a unit in the back of an article of furniture by stapling, said structure comprising contiguous rows of coil springs, each spring having an end front coil and an end rear coil, the springs in each row being in substantially vertical spaced relation to each other, the

respective front and rear coils of each spring being in horizontal alignment with and adjoining the respective front and rear coils respectively of the corresponding springs in the adjacent rows, means connecting the springs in each two adjacent rows of the unit comprising substantially upright front tie wires each having a long leg at the corresponding front coils of the springs of said two rows, a front clip securing each of said wires to each pair of front coils, rear tie wires. shorter than the front tie Walls and each arranged at the corresponding adjoining rear coils in tWo adjacent rows, a rear clip securing each of the rear tie Wires and each pair of adjoining rear coils together, a short leg on each front tie wire extending transversely of a row, a border wire having a straight horizontal side secured to each short leg in substantial downward spaced'relation to the lower springs of all of the rows and adapted to be stapled to a furniture frame and having side portions each secured to the front coils of the springs of a marginal row, and a relatively straight horizontal top border wire independent of the tie wires secured to and connecting the front coils of the upper springs of the rows the rear tie wires terminating above the short legs of the front tie wires at the lower ends of the rear wires and below the top border wire at the other ends thereof.

2. An assembled spring structure adapted to be installed as a unit in the back of an article of furniture, comprising a series of closely adjacent substantially vertically arranged rows of coil springs each having a front coil and a rear coil, a series of L-shaped tie wires each having a long leg extending from a point below the top of the unit downwardly between two adjacent rows to a point above the bottom of the unit and being substantially tangent to the front coils of the springs in said adjacent rows, each of the tie wires having a short leg aligned with the short legs of the other tie wires and facing in the same direction, a clip connecting each tie wire to the front coils of each corresponding pair of springs in adjacent rows, a border wire having a pair of upright sides at the respective sides of the unit and each secured to the front coils of the springs in a marginal row, said border wire having a horizontal side connecting the upright legs and secured to the short legs of the tie wires and a relatively sharp corner at the junctions of said upright sides with the horizontal side, the horizontal side extending from one of the corners to the other corner and unobstructedly at one end thereof across a marginal row.

3. A pre assembled back spring structure comprising adjoining rows of spaced apart coil springs each spring having a front coil and a rear coil, relatively long substantially upright front tie wires each secured to the front coils of all the corresponding springs in a pair of adjacent rows, relatively short rear tie wires parallel to the long Wires and each secured to the rear coils of all the corresponding springs in such pair of adjacent rows, border wire means secured to the front coils of all the springs in the marginal rows and to the front coils of all of the uppermost springs and extending along the top, bottom and sides of the unit, and an extension on each long tie wire secured to the bottom part of the border wire in substantial downward spaced relation to the lowermost springs of the rows.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

